Improvement in burial-caskets



A. H. NIRD'LING'ER. v l BURIAL GASKET. ,.Na. 191,995. l- 999999899999 12.1917.

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UNITED! Sra'rns PATENT OLFFrGn.

ALBERT NIRDLINGER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE STEIN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BuRlAL-cAsKETs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 191,995, dated June 12, 1877 application tiled March 21, 1877.

that the following is a full, clear, and exact' description of the construction and operation p of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure I is a plan view of the bottom of the lid and the top of the casket, said parts being thrown open to exhibit the locking devices. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section ofsaid parts, also separated. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 show the locking devices.

My improvement consists in the means for locking the lid to the. casket; and relates to that class in which concealed devices, consisting of slotted plates and hooks, are employed,4 which are self-engaging by pushing the lid endwise.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and definitely claimed.

A represents the casket, and B the lid, which are of ordinary form and construction. C C are flat plates attached on the upper'edges ofthe casket, and D D are corresponding plates" attached on the lower edges of the lid. These are arranged on the sides, at suitable distances apart, and coincidein position. They are attached by screws a a.

The plates C C are provided with longitudinal slots b b, which open down into the wood, where there are cavities c c. In the rear of these the upper surface of the plates is depressed, forming cup-shapedcavities d d, which enlarge or spread at the outer ends toward the head of the casket. These depressions form channels or ways, which gradually incline from the outer end downward to the slots.`

The plates D D have hooktheads ff, notched, as shown, which enter the slots b b and hold under the plates C C when the lid is pushed endwise to enter them. The rear ends of the hook'heads are inclined backward and upward, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, at p p.

a socket, h, ofthe lid by a spring, le. A guardplate, l, is located outside, having a rightangled slot, m, and in this rests a thumb-piece, n, by which means the bolt may be forced down into the wood and held when desired. When the thumb-piece is released, the bolt is thrown upward, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The operation is as follows: The lid is placed over the casket, with the hooks f f resting in the depressions or channels d d, and the lid is then pushed forward. The channels form ways or guides to the hooks, which slide therein, and when the hooks reach the'slots b b they drop therein, and the ho0kheads catch under the plates, while at the same time 'the end-locking bolt g strikes into-the socket IL, thus securely fastening 'the lid to the casket, while the locking devices are all concealed. Toraise the lid again, the bolt g is depressed, and the operator simply takes hold ofthe lid and draws it toward him, when the inclined backs p p ofthe hooks ride up on the edges of' the slots b I), elevating the llid without lifting it, and when so raised the hooks slide in the channels as guides. Bythis means the lid may be raised and closed at any time from the headof the casket by simply moving it endwise, and great facility in adjusting the lid to the casket is attained by simply placing the hook-heads in the channels. The device is much more effective than the old form, in which hooks or studs simply fit in slots.

I am aware that studs have before beenused, standing up from the casket and enteringkeyhole slots in the lid. Such I do not claim.

What I claim as new is- The combination, with the slots b b and the inclined back hooks f f, of the depressed channels or ways d d, located in the rear of, and outside of, the slots, and centering to the same, whereby the operator, by drawing on the end of the lid, without lifting, can release it from its engagement with the casket,as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT H. NIRDLINGER.

Witnesses: Y

R. F. OsGocD, l LOUIS SPAHN. 

